October 3, 2016 AT 4:00 pm

Richard D. Trentlage and the Oscar Meyer Wiener Song #MusicMonday

Richard Trentlage was actually a career jingle writer, with a number of successful songs under his belt. That includes McDonald’s, V8, and even the National Safety Council (a song for seatbelts), though Oscar Meyer was ultimately his biggest client.

Richard Trentlage wasn’t from Nashville, New York, or LA. He lived in Fox River Grove, Illinois, outside of Chicago. He played the banjo-ukulele, which is sort of like it sounds. Trentlage was a creative guy living in a small town, making a decent living off of what he loved.

Then, a quick sequence of events turned him into a jingle-happy millionaire.

Amazingly, Trentlage didn’t know anyone at Oscar Mayer. Nobody concocted the ‘Oscar Meyer wiener Song’ concept and tasked him to write it. Instead, he submitted the ‘Oscar Mayer wiener Song’ for an open contest held by the company. More fascinating is that Trentlage only learned about the contest the night before. He accepted the challenge, and fundamentally changed his life in the process.

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